Profit-Taking Takes Indices Lower

Internet issues finished lower on Friday despite several high-profile
Internet issues debuting on the public market.

internet.com’s Internet Stock Index was off 23.66, or 2.49 percent, to
928.07, the Nasdaq Composite fell 90.25 to 4395.38 and the Dow Jones
industrial average dropped 218.42 to 10425.21.

WebMethods Inc. (WEBM)
rocketed 175-7/16, or 500 percent, to 210-7/16. The maker of Internet
business-to-business software sold 4.1 million shares at $35 with lead
underwriter Morgan Stanley.

The story wasn’t as good for Pets.com Inc.
(IPET).
Shares of the pet e-tailer finished unchanged after pricing 7.5 million
shares at $11.

Via Net.Works Inc. (VNWI)
jumped 28-13/16, or 137 percent, to 49-13/16. The company, which provides
small and medium-sized businesses with Internet access, sold 14.3 million
shares at $21.

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO)
was off 5 to 130-15/16, Doubleclick
Inc. (DCLK)
was down 7-3/8 to 11-1/8, eBay Inc. (EBAY)
fell 9 to 153-3/8, Exodus Communications
(EXDS)
dropped 5-13/16 to 114-9/16, Real Networks
Inc. (RNWK)
lost 9-3/8 to 177-1/2 and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO)
plunged 22-5/16 to 342-11/16.

Ariba Inc. (ARBA)
finished up 16-15/16 to 212, Juniper
Networks Inc. (JNPR)
rose 7-3/8 to 215-7/8 and Starmedia
Network (STRM)
matured 5-1/4 to 52-1/2 on rumors that the Spanish and Portuguese language
network could soon be bought out.

Network Solutions Inc. (NSOL)
jumped 9-25/32 to 302-3/32. Banc of America Friday upped its price target on
the domain registrar to 400 from 375.

Elsewhere in the sector, FatBrain (FATB)
lost 6-7/8 to 13-7/8. The online retailer of technical information was
downgraded to a “buy” from “strong buy” by Banc of America Securities and US
Bancorp Piper Jaffray.

Subscribe to Internet StockTracker, a weekly e-mail newsletter from internet.com Corp. Every Friday internet.com will deliver to your e-mail in-box the latest performance data on individual Internet companies and their competitors. Internet StockTracker will deliver to you all the statistics you need to assess the week’s activity. Subscribe today at e
-newsletters